Cal State LA Writing and Rhetoric (Bachelor's): Tuition, Graduate Salary, and Debt
- Bachelor's in Rhetoric and Composition/Writing Studies
- Public university
- Los Angeles, CA
College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025
The short answer
Cal State LA writing and rhetoric graduates earn about what writing and rhetoric graduates earn nationally, $28,725 in their first year. Where this program stands out is debt. The typical graduate leaves with $13,500 in federal loans, less than at 98% of writing and rhetoric programs in the country. Strong value, but not one of the highest-paying writing and rhetoric degrees in California.
How it compares
Each figure is the median for graduates of the program. The California and national columns are the medians across all writing and rhetoric bachelor's programs that report the figure.
Five years out, Cal State LA graduates earn more than the national figure and about $6,400 more than the California median.
Debt and first-year pay at every California writing and rhetoric program
Programs in the upper left give graduates higher pay for less debt. Dashed lines mark the California medians.
Hover over or tap a dot to see the school. Only programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.
What graduates earn over time
Pay rises about 90% between the first and fifth year.
Year 1 and year 5 figures come from different graduating classes, so the growth rate is an estimate.
Does family income change the outcome?
Graduates who received Pell Grants, which go to students from lower-income families, earned more in their first year than other graduates. They also borrowed less. At this program, the outcome does not look worse for students with less money.
Paying back the loans
On a standard 10-year plan, the median debt means a payment of about $143 a month, or 6.0% of a graduate's typical monthly pay in the first year.
The government publishes these as ranges to protect privacy. They were measured in 2018 to 2020, partly during the pandemic pause on federal loan payments, so the forbearance share may be higher than usual.
Where graduates work, and what the pay is worth
97% of graduates (255 of 264) were working in California one year after graduating. Prices in the Los Angeles area are about 14% above the national average, so a $28,725 salary here buys what about $25,294 buys in a typical US city.
Careers this field leads to
These are the jobs that the federal crosswalk from fields of study to occupations links to writing and rhetoric, largest first. Pay is the median across all experience levels.
Editors
$98,030Median pay in California. 14,830 people work in this job in California. Nationally, jobs are projected to shrink 1% from 2025 to 2035, with about 7,900 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree, plus less than 5 years of related work experience.
Writers and Authors
$86,480Median pay in California. 8,390 people work in this job in California. Nationally, jobs are projected to stay about the same in number from 2025 to 2035, with about 11,900 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.
Technical Writers
$104,000Median pay in California. 5,280 people work in this job in California. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 1% from 2025 to 2035, with about 3,200 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree, plus less than 5 years of related work experience.
Proofreaders and Copy Markers
$57,490Median pay in California. 300 people work in this job in California. Nationally, jobs are projected to shrink 1% from 2025 to 2035, with about 1,100 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.
About Cal State LA
Writing and Rhetoric ranks 32nd of 42 bachelor's programs at Cal State LA by first-year earnings. The top three are Nursing ($98,811), Civil Engineering ($73,178), and Electrical Engineering ($63,981).
Other writing and rhetoric bachelor's programs near Los Angeles
Common questions
The median graduate earns $28,725 one year after graduating and $54,514 five years after. The median across writing and rhetoric bachelor's programs in California is $27,681.
The median federal loan balance is $13,500, which ranks the lowest of 9 writing and rhetoric bachelor's programs in California. That works out to about $143 a month over 10 years.
On the numbers, yes for most students. Debt equals 47% of first-year earnings, against a national median of 82%, and the share of borrowers in default two years into repayment is 10% or less. If the highest possible early salary is the main goal, several California programs report higher pay, usually with more debt.
Most do. 97% (255 of 264) were working in California one year after graduating.
About this data
- Earnings and debt only include students who received federal financial aid (grants or loans).
- Earnings only count graduates who were working and not enrolled in more school. Graduates who went straight to further study are not included.
- Debt only includes federal loans. Private loans and credit cards are not counted.
- Some schools with several campuses report one combined figure for all of them. We count each of those schools once, and leave them out of California comparisons when their main campus is in another state.
- Scorecard figures describe graduating classes from several years ago. BLS wages are from May 2025.
- School-level numbers like tuition, admission rate, and graduation rate are for the whole school, not the writing and rhetoric program.
Sources
- U.S. Department of Education, College Scorecard, field of study and institution files, June 2026 release
- Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025
- Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections 2025 to 2035
- Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024
- NCES, CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk, and IPEDS institution directory, 2024